Perfect
by Shasta627
Summary: Lewis and Cleo need only one more thing before their wedding: to find the perfect house. [Clewis. One-shot.]


_**Written for the '**_ _ **Summer of 2017 OTP Challenge '**_

 _ **OTP: Lewis & Cleo**_

 _ **Prompt #27: "House Hunting"**_

 _ **····**_

"You'd think there'd be more houses on the outskirts of such a large city, but _nooo_ , there's barely any! How on earth are we supposed to find a place to live without traveling ninety-five kilometers a day?"

"Stop being dramatic, there are _plenty_ of houses outside San Jose."

"True, but there's the slight problem of ' _they're all out of our price range!'_ "

Cleo Sertori sighed at her fiance's words. There was no denying that all the houses they had looked at so far were too expensive for them. It was extremely difficult to find a nice place that was right near the coast and still affordable, but she still had hope that they'd find at least one. Cleo pulled up the address of the next potential house on the GPS, and pointed for her soon-to-be-husband, Lewis McCartney, to turn left.

"Last one for today," she told him, noticing him trying to hide a yawn as he followed her directions. This past week Lewis had been assigned the night shift at the Californian Marine Biology Institute, whereas Cleo was working the day shift. Thankfully, the schedule change was only for a week, but it had made it extremely difficult to spend time with each other, much less go house hunting together, but they needed to find a house before the end of the month, when their wedding would take place back in Australia. Lewis had given up several hours of sleep in order to go searching with her, and she only hoped his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

Glancing back at the GPS, Cleo saw that they still had seven minutes before they reached their destination, so she stared out the window and reverted back to her favorite daydream: their wedding.

Lewis had proposed nearly six months ago, when they had returned to Australia for Christmas Break. Cleo was half way through her last year at the Marine Biology University, splitting her time between school, work, and Lewis (although she normally saw Lewis at work most days), when Lewis had proposed that they take a holiday back to the Gold Coast to visit their families. Cleo was all for the idea, even more so when she found out that Lewis had already talked to their boss and gotten time off. The two planned their trip and left for Australia a week before Christmas, and arrived only a day later. Despite the jetlag, both were pleased to be back among their families, although Cleo was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't be seeing any of her friends, since Emma was away at school in France, Rikki (who normally always stayed close to home) was across the continent with her father, and Bella was touring Ireland with Will. Though Cleo tried to be happy for her friends and their grand adventures, she did miss them greatly, and often feared that they'd grow apart and forget each other. Luckily, Lewis always assured her they wouldn't, and would keep her company whenever she felt lonely. She didn't know how she had gotten someone as great as him for a boyfriend.

The rest of their Christmas holiday was enjoyable, but the real surprise was on Christmas eve, when Lewis took her for a walk on the beach. It started out normal enough, but then Lewis kept telling her how much he loved her, and that he never wanted to leave her side. Lewis had always been sentimental, but something about his voice had seemed off to Cleo, and it scared her a bit. Was he dying? Did something happen? Thankfully, it turned out only to be nerves, for the next moment he had dropped down on one knee and pulled out a small, velvet box containing a simple but elegant ring, with a single diamond in the center. He had barely even gotten the words, "Will you marry me?" out of his mouth before Cleo began crying and shouting 'yes,' all the while hugging him and smothering him with kisses.

Later it turned out that her whole family had already known that Lewis was going to propose, and Cleo was quite surprised yet pleased that her dad had actually given him permission. The next day, Christmas morning, Cleo had called Emma, Rikki, and Bella individually to wish them each a Happy Christmas, plus to tell them of her engagement. All three girls freaked out quite a bit, to say the least, but we're ultimately thrilled for both Cleo and Lewis, and began pressing for details about the wedding. Needless to say, between the four girls and Sam, the wedding had already been halfway planned by the end of the holiday, and Cleo was heartened to know that all three of her old friends were going to be there and partake in the wedding party.

Now, it was hard for Cleo to believe that in just over a month, her and Lewis would be married and off on their honeymoon to Arizona. It wasn't the most romantic place in the world, but ever since Cleo won the scholarship to the University in California and moved to America to be with Lewis, the state had always fascinated her, with it's scenery and weather. Plus, there wasn't much water to worry about out there in the desert, so there would be no chance of accidentally popping a tail.

"This must be it," Lewis's voice brought her out of her reverie as she turned her head to look at the house he was pulling up to. It was a simple house, not too big, but big enough for them. It was colored in light blue paint with white trim, giving it an elegant but modern look, with a rocking chair on the front porch. The front yard was wide with flower beds lined along the fences, and two palm trees adorned the right side of the yard.

"Well, it certainly is-"

"-beautiful," Cleo finished Lewis's sentence. Out of all the houses they had seen, none had captivated her quite like this. There was something just so alluring about the scene set before them. Maybe it was the sun shinning, the sound of the waves, or just the whole prospect of spending time with Lewis, but Cleo knew that this house was the one. It had to be.

"Let's look around and try to see inside," Lewis suggested, exiting the car and intertwining his hand with Cleo's, pulling her along. Cleo fell in step beside him as they walked onto the porch and peered in through the windows. It was a bit hard to see given the sun was so bright outside, but Cleo could determine the room they were looking at to be the living room. There were two couches, a TV cabinet, a coffee table, a few lamps, and a ceiling fan.

"Lot of furniture for an empty house," Lewis remarked.

"It's probably just set up for advertisement purposes," Cleo said, moving off the porch to look into another window by the flower bed.

"This one's a bedroom," she commented as Lewis followed her.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of the two of them surveying the outside of the house and looking in windows. After they had seen as much of the inside as they could without breaking and entering, Lewis turned to her to ask, "So. What'd you think?"

Cleo was sure Lewis already knew her answer, given it was probably written all over her face, but she answered him anyway. "I love it. It's...perfect."

Lewis smiled. "Well, then let's call the real estate agent and see if we can get a price, and possibly a tour inside." He pulled out his phone and began making the call.

Cleo stood nearby, willing her heart to stop beating so erratically. She hoped against hope that the house would be in their price range, or at least somewhat close. Just looking at the house made her stomach flip as she imagined the possible life she could have there. She could picture her and Lewis waking up to the sun shinning through the windows, the sound of the ocean nearly lulling them back to sleep again. She could picture going for swims in the ocean, drying off in the sand, and making the short walk up to the house to relax. She could picture kids running in and out of the house and playing in the sand, kids with Lewis's blond hair and her green eyes. She could picture having outdoor barbeques and parties, and inviting their friends and family over to their small abode. She could picture their life there, and she longed for it so much so wasn't sure she could handle the disappointment if it didn't work out.

"Hello..yes, I'd like to ask about the house for sale on Tidewater street..." Lewis said, having obviously reached the agent. Cleo reached out and gripped his other hand tightly, afraid to know what the verdict was going to be.

"...yes, how much is it selling for?"

Cleo squeezed her eyes closed tightly. _Please, please, please_... she chanted in her head.

"Really?" Lewis's voice sounded excited. Cleo's eyes snapped open to observe his face. He smiled at her and retracted his hand from her vice-like grip to give her a thumbs up. Cleo nearly felt like crying - obviously it wasn't too expensive, or else Lewis wouldn't be so happy about it.

"Yes, me and my fiancee are very interested. Can we schedule a tour of the inside?...tomorrow?" He looked at Cleo, who nodded her head. "Yeah, tomorrow works." Lewis got a few more details about the meeting arranged and left the agent his number before hanging up and turning to Cleo.

"Can you believe it?" he asked, smiling widely. Cleo wrapped her arms around him in a large hug and buried her face into his shoulder.

"It was made to be," she whispered happily.

"Like Miss Chatham said all those years ago, 'Trust the magic,' " Lewis responded, smiling widely.

"Never have you been more right." Cleo lifted her head to meet Lewis's gaze and leaned forward, connecting their lips in a slow, sweet kiss.

Cleo broke away a few moments later. "Just think, in two weeks, I graduate. In one month, we get married. In a month and two weeks, we'll return to California, and move into our very own house. Most likely this one." She gave Lewis another kiss. "Our life is looking pretty good."

"My life always looks good when you're in it," said Lewis, laughing when she rolled her eyes at him.

"You romantic sap," she mumbled, but couldn't help but kiss him again, and realize that what Lewis just said was true. No matter what happened in the future, as long as they had each other, life would be perfect.


End file.
